


Sunday Afternoon

by emmagic



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 20:39:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17474609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmagic/pseuds/emmagic
Summary: It's an average Sunday in their 7th year.





	Sunday Afternoon

The window panes were streaked with rain, and because the common room was so high up, the steady patter of raindrops could be heard hitting the rooftop. It was bleak outside, the clouds gray and the grounds brown. 

The afternoon was a slow going one. Tomorrow classes would begin again and the better part of the Sunday had been spent catching up and finishing homework. Ava sat cross legged on a chair, bent over  _ A Guide To Transfiguration  _ as Mcgonagall had heavily implied that there would be a quiz of sorts on Tuesday and the girl relished being in—at least—the top five to score. 

The two who usually beat her to first place sat at the same table as her. One of the two people in question was finishing off her charms (which Ava had already finished yesterday she noted with some relief.) Lily reached over to the center of the table to dip her quill into the open ink pot that was shared between everyone currently sitting around the table. 

She shook her hair out of her green eyes and Ava caught James tracking the movement with his eyes. The marauder had his potions book open in front of him but Ava didn’t know whether the boy had actually read anything. She doubted it. 

Remus sat across from her, making notes (in a notebook she’d bought for him she noted happily). 

His scarred face looking flushed for once in the bland, cold light that fell through the high, arched windows. Ava had the urge to touch his burdened face and to tell him how cute he looked. (That’s what Ava called his scars, burdens not damages.) (The first time Remus had heard her say that he’d shook his head sadly and kissed her. Now, he just smiled.)

    He was chewing on his lip and his  green sweater was fraying at the sleeves. Underneath the collar of which she saw a yellow t-shirt peeking out. One sleeve was pulled over his hand, which rested on the table. Once in a while he would whisper something to himself or shake his head and then cross out whatever he was writing and start anew. 

Behind Remus, Ava caught a glance of Sirius and Marlene laughing heartily at something Peter had said, who had a grin on his face too. Peter’s abandoned stack of books sat in the chair between Remus and her. He’d vacated it long ago, choosing instead to socialize with Sirius and Marlene.

Ava’s eyes drifted back to her open text and she wondered how long she’d been at it. Long enough for her focus to wander, that was for sure. 

She tugged at her merlot sweater. It was warm and big and she absolutely loved it. It had been a present from her sister last christmas.

Ava glanced once again at the transfiguration book before closing it with a sigh. She looked around the table once more. Remus was still writing vehemently. Lily’s quill was racing over the parchment. James was still watching Lily. 

“Done,” Ava said when none of her companions had payed attention to her closing her book. 

James started, his eyes darting over to Ava giving her a dazed smile, before focusing again on Lily. “Finally someone’s finished, come on Lils. Ave’s done. You can stop too, you know.” An aloof smile growing on his face. 

“Wait,” her free hand coming up to silence him. In this Lily and Remus were much alike. Once they were in a trance of studying and learning it was hard to drag them out. 

James’s smile turned into a pout. 

Ava wiggled her legs from underneath her. Her socked feet had fallen asleep, and there was an ache in her legs from having been folded for so long. 

She stretched her arms above her head, and shook her dark hair out of her bun. Her loose curls came to rest around her shoulders. She cleaned her big, round, clear-framed glasses with the hem of her sweater. Replacing her glasses on her nose she saw that Remus was looking over his notes, biting on his pencil. 

His mop of brown hair was messy, not as James’s, but still. Ava wanted to run her fingers through it. So she came to stand next to him and did. 

At the contact, a smile spread lazily over Remus’s face. He was still chewing on his pencil. However, Ava got the distinct impression he was no longer  focusing on his notes. 

He leant fully into her touch then, and Ava leaned forward so her mouth was just by his ear and said, “You can stop, you know? You can keep going later.” 

Remus nodded sheepishly and closed his notebook and textbook placing both on top of Peter’s pile. James looked at the both of them, pouting still, encouraging Lily to stop too. 

Out of the corner of her eye she caught Lily putting down her quill reluctantly. James’s victorious smile. 

Remus got up and reached for Ava’s hand, which she let him take, intertwining their fingers. Walking to the other two marauders, they sat on a free couch in the corner by the low window, across from Marlene’s and Sirius’s couch. Peter sat perched on the arm by Marlene. 

The rain was an ever-coming, never-stopping rhythm. It brought the common room into perspective. The fire was a source of light as well as heat, and Ava loved it. She also loved how almost everyone in the common room was either studying, reading or talking. 

It made everything seem calmer. Under control. The weather truly made the common room a warm, soothing place. 

The red and gold accents of the room were so familiar and Ava loved how the people she cared about were all starting to gather around in the Marauder’s corner of the common room. 

As a result Ava could barely stifle a yawn. She was tired, although she couldn’t understand why. She’d hardly done anything tiring today. 

She curled up in the corner of the couch. The arm of the couch on one side and on the other Remus. 

Remus who was perhaps the best person in the world. Remus who smelled of honey (the fragrance of his soap, she’d asked) and coffee. Remus who seemed to only own frayed sweaters and t-shirts with band logos on them. 

Remus who drank coffee from since he was ten years old. Who preferred sugar with almost everything and had a secret stash of chocolate hidden away under a loose floorboard in his dorm.

Remus who read books to no end, and then recommended the best ones to her. Who left little notes with quotes and lovely reminders in her bag and in her books. 

Remus who sat beside her and broke out into a burst of rumbling laughter. (The best sound in the world). 

He wrapped an arm around Ava’s shoulders and pulled her into his chest. Cautiously at first, but upon seeing that Ava leaned into his embrace further he relaxed. 

She put her head to his chest. The beat of his heart even and constant. The girl curled into a ball against his chest.

“Falling asleep there, Booth?” came Sirius’s voice.

“Great observation,” She remarked. She wasn’t, she was just closing her eyes for a little while. 

Ava felt Remus’s snort resound in his chest. 

“So, anyway,” Marlene said, “ _ The White Album _ is so much better than  _ Abbey Road _ .” 

Sirius laughed at that, “You’re joking? No way. No freakin’ way.”

Marlene’s turn to snort. “Black, I think you’ve got hearing problems, I mean sure  _ Something  _  and  _ Because  _ are good but have you heard  _ Julia _ ? Have you heard  _ Mother Nature’s Son _ ? Have you heard the entire album! It’s just their best work so far.” She concluded. 

“Marlene, Sirius if I may interrupt,” Marlene’s, Sirius’ and Remus’s gazes all went to Peter. Ava cracked open an eye and observed her friends who’d turned to look at Peter, who sat with his legs outstretched on the arm of the sofa.

“I would like to state that both of you are horribly wrong, the best album is, of course,  _ Revolver. _ ” Peter said solemnly. 

Marlene and Sirius shared a look before shaking their heads. Peter looked affronted by this. “It is!  _ Eleanor Rigby, She Said She Said, Good Day Sunshine!  _ All of the above. They’re great songs. 

Marlene and Sirius shared another look before bursting out into laughter. “Sorry, Pete, I don’t think so.” 

“Although we’ll give you  _ Eleanor Rigby,  _ that’s a good piece of genius. And maybe  _ For No One. _ But for the rest…” Sirius trailed off, shaking his head morosely. 

Just then Lily sat down in the only armchair not occupied, “Why I think  _ Revolver  _ is a lovely choice, Peter dear.” She said, patting her friend on his shoulder. 

Peter’s smile returned and he blew Marlene and Sirius a raspberry before sitting back onto the arm of the couch, his ankles crossed.

James scooched in next to Lily. Seeing that that wouldn’t fit though James resorted to sitting in the ginger’s lap. His long figure draped over both arms of the chair. 

Ava meanwhile had almost fallen asleep and sat up with a start. Her abrupt action had startled Remus, who had settled against Ava’s figure and focused on the girl’s even, deep breaths. 

The girl rubbed her eyes underneath her spectacles. 

“You can sleep, you know?” Remus murmured only to her. 

Ava nodded, “I know, I know, but…” The girl trailed off, itching at her cheek. She shot him a sheepish look. Remus knew full well what Ava was about to ask but he wanted her to utter the words. 

“Could you...maybe...read?” She asked of him, quietly as he had. 

“For you,”  he whispered, “anything.” He leant down to kiss her cheek, which made Ava smile. This boy. There were no words to describe him. None would do him justice. 

As this was the usual corner the Marauders sat in, Remus, Ava and Lily had taken to stash books underneath the couches and armchair. So, Remus swept a copy of  _ The Dead Zone  _ from underneath their couch and opened up on the marked page. 

Ava settled back against his chest and closed her eyes. She listened to Remus clear his throat and start the book where they had left off. Remus’s rumble of words was soothing as always. Ava found that her eyes closed on their own account. 

The conversation that had taken place around them halted. As the other marauders and Marlene and Lily all paused to listen in on Remus’s reading. 

Ava opened her eyes a crack as she saw that Sirius had stretched out, his legs in Marlene’s lap. Peter had taken up a position on the carpeted floor, a pillow supporting his head. His eyes closed. Marlene had folded her legs underneath her. Lily had stretched out her legs so that they rested on the arm by Sirius’s head. She was playing with James’s hair, who also had his eyes closed. 

Remus’s voice had started carrying louder so that people all around them could hear Stephen King’s story. 

“'This is crazy,' Bannerman muttered, but he went to the storage closet where the old time cards were kept and opened the door.” 

Remus cleared his throat again as he announced chapter eleven. 

The last thing Ava recalled before falling asleep was Remus’s breath in her hair as he spoke. 

***

The next thing Ava knew she was being roused by something uncomfortable poking into the bridge of her nose. Reaching out a hand to remove whatever that was, she realised they were her glasses. 

She swore silently and took them off. She pushed up off of whatever she was laying on and realised she was laying on Remus’s chest. The boy in question made an amused sound as he took her glasses from her. 

“You kiss your boyfriend with that mouth?” He mused, smiling. 

“You bet yah,” the girl replied, leaning forward to do so. 

After she pulled away she glanced around her. Her eyesight somewhat blurry as Remus still had her glasses. 

All of the people that had been there when the girl had fallen asleep were gone. 

“How long was I asleep for?” She asked, bringing her hands up to rub the grogginess from her eyes. 

Remus smiled, placing her glasses on his nose. He squinted and raised his eyebrows, adjusting the glasses from the bridge of his nose to the tip of his nose.

“Good God, Booth your sight is truly awful, you could rival James,” He remarked dryly.

She snatched the glasses off of Remus’s nose and replaced them on her own. “Ha. Where’d everyone go?”

Remus leaned back into the couch, tucking at the sleeve of his sweater. “Well, Pete left about four chapters in. Black and McKinnon left with James, I’d say about,” Remus glanced at his watch, “forty-five minutes ago. And Lily went back to studying,” Remus waved a hand at the table at which they had sat earlier. 

Ava had failed to see upon first glance (and without her glasses) that Lily had indeed resumed her earlier position at the table. Ava’s eyes drifted from the Red Head to the window behind her and saw that the earlier downpour of the day had abated to a light drizzle. 

“Aha,” She commented weakly. “How long was I out for, then?” Ava followed the motion of Lily’s quill racing over the parchment vehemently. 

“Almost two hours,” Remus remarked dryly. 

Ava spun around to Remus, “Two hours? Merlin, where’d that come from? I went to sleep early yesterday.” She plucked at a loose thread of her sweater.

“No, Aves, that would be wrong, because yesterday you came up to my dorm with The Fellowship of the Ring clutched to your chest asking for the sequel ‘pretty please’ and claiming that Sam was a downright sweetheart.” He met her eyes meaningfully. 

Ava nodded in acknowledgement, she recalled then, instantly, the occurences of last night. That she’d finished the last chapters with her heart in her throat. She’d barely glanced at the time before stomping out of her shared room, off towards the boys’ dormitory. 

She’d knocked on the door fiercely, Remus had leant her the battered copy , so it was his fault that she’d now felt so strongly for the characters within. He would have to open the door and meet her demands: the sequel and a detailed discussion. Although--she’d thought--the discussion could also be held tomorrow. 

After at least a minute of profound knocking later, someone finally answered the door: Sirius Black. In pajama bottoms and no top. 

She’d tried not to compare his muscled, toned chest to Remus’s lesser muscled, lesser toned chest. Even though she had and could only think that she preferred Remus’s infinitely more. 

“What on Earth Booth, what time is it? More importantly, what’re you doing here?” He’d given her a once over. 

She’d worn wooly socks, her red checkered pajama bottoms and one of Remus’s old sweaters that smelled good (so good), and looked like a dress on her. Her hair had been in the remainder of that day’s braid, and had probably looked like a total mess. Even though Remus claimed it was cute the way she had flyaway strands everywhere.

Clasped in her hands was a battered copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. “Bloody hell, Ave are you here because of that bloody book?” A look of disbelief and exasperation on his face. 

“You bet your arse I am, now, step aside Black I need to speak with Remus.” 

Baffled by her forwardness, he’d stepped aside, scratching his cheek. She immediately made her way to the four poster in the far right corner of the boys’ dorm. 

She’d been here before, of course. 

She noted Sirius retreating to his bunk closest to the door. James’s in between his and Remus’s, the curtains drawn, an even snoring rhythm being emitted from that bed. 

Peter’s was on Remus’s otherside, snores coming from that bed too. And on Peter’s otherside was the bed of Samuel Killick, the fifth and last person who shared the Marauder’s dorm. 

Before Sirius slid his curtain closed he added a, “Goodnight, Booth.” And a cordial nod of his head. 

She’d made her way to Remus’s bed, had roughly shoved open one of the red, velvety curtains, only to see that Remus was still awake, he too was dressed in his pajamas, his hair messy with a book open in his lap. His wand was propped up so that it cast light over his pages. Unlike Sirius, he was wearing a sweater. 

Upon seeing her, his face had melted into a happy and confused grin. “Ava, what’re you doing here?” He’d asked.

“Budge over,” she’d said. Surprised at her tone he obeyed. 

“What’s up, Aves? Something wrong?” At his concerned tone and look her heart had melted a little. Only a little. 

“You’re darn right there is.” She’d said, placing her book on top of Remus’s already open one. 

His face had broke into a grin then. He’d cast a quick silencio on their little space so that the others wouldn’t hear their conversation. 

“Tell me about it,” he’d said. 

And she had. All night long. Until she’d tired herself out and fallen asleep underneath Remus’s covers. Warm. Safe. Absolutely and irrevocably content.  

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on this site. Hope there's not too many typos or errors.


End file.
